Cheese cutter



i 1950 P. N. NELSON 2,

CHEESE CUTTER Filed Nov. 12, 1947 EVEN-727T Pele/ IV. 4 6/50 Patented Dec. 12, 1950 UNITED STATES OFF ICE CHEESE CUTTER Peter N. Nelson, Chicago, Ill.

Application November 12, 1947, Serial No. 785,276

4 Claims. (01 30-116) 1 This invention relates to a-slicer and more particularly to a cutter for slicing edible commodities, such, for example, as brick cheese'and the "like.

An object of this invention is to provide a "simple but inexpensive kitchen utensil which can be, for the most part, economically manufac- "cutting'wire may be easily replacedwhen broken "andwherein the new wire can be readily "tensioned.

In accordance with the general features of this'invention there is provided in a slicer including a rod, a cutting wire along side thereof and spaced therefrom, and means for fastening the end portions of the wire inposition on the rod, one of the fastening means comprising an element slidable on the rod as well as a turn nut threaded on the rod for moving the element along the rod to adjust the tension of the wire'or to permit loosening of the wire when desired.

Still another feature of the invention relates to the provision of a guide element affording a rough visual indicator to the user of the device asto thedepthof-sli-ce being made.

Other objects and features of this invention will more fully appear from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanyin drawings which illustrate a single embodiment thereof and in which Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a device embodying the features of this invention;

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical cross sectional view, partly in elevation, of the structure shown in Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is an end view of the device taken at the top of Figure 2.

As shown on the drawings:

The reference character It) designates a handle which can be made of any suitable material, such, for example, as a synthetic thermosetting plastic, wood, bone, or the like, and to which is anchored an elongated rod ll carrying a cutting wire I2. Both the handle and the wire may be made of suitable metallic material.

At the junction of the rod H with the handle l0, an annular bushing l3 may be disposed over the end of the handle to finish the same. This bushing may be suitably anchored in position.

The bushing has formed integrally" with it and ceiving the lower end of the wire [2; The-wire can beheld in this notch l5 by means of a knot in the-extreme lower'en'd ofthe wire.

The other or upper end of the cutting wire F2 is anchored to another-ring or bushin l'1 slida-bly mounted on the freeend of the rod H. The free end of the rod H has a transverse slot 128 aligned with a slot 19 in the upper end of the bushing. -The upper end of the wire is threaded through the slot [-9 in the bushing and through the slot L8 in the end of therod i i, and is iprovided on the side of the rod opposite the wire with a'knot 211 for holding itin the'bushing It will be noted that the bushing n. also an annular shoulder portion"22 around then'odwhich is not sl-ottedand is :abutt'ed by a turirrmt 2-3 screwed onth-ethread 24 on the free-end of the rod I i.

' The turn nut 23 is counterboredatits lower 'end at 3 andterminates-ina shoulder 25' which is the bottom of the thread in the turn nut and which, whenit reachesthe bottom or the: thread on the pin, contacts a shoulder at'the bottom-of the thread on the pinand arrestsffurtherrdownward movement of "the-turn nut on the pin. In other words, the turn'nut- 23 can only be-moveid downwardly to the extent of the thread on the upper end of the pin or red. Upward movement, onthe other :han'd,xof the turn-rn-ut 23 isglimited hyrcontact with the ripper bushing element-which is slidableon the rod; and against the tensionof the steel cutting wire. Also the shoulder 22 has projecting from it diametrically opposite from the effective length of the cutting wire 12, an indicating element or pin 26.

In the assembling of the device, the knotted end It of the wire is first inserted in the notch l5 and then the other knotted end of the wire is passed through the slots 19 and I8 to bring the knot 20 on the opposite side of the rod from that of the cutting side. This insertion is effected when the turn nut 23 is in its retracted or lowermost position with the bushing I! moved downwardly toward the handle. Thereafter by turning the nut, it engages the shoulder 22 and moves the upper bushing I l outwardly on the rod, thus tightening the wire so that it can be maintained taut for slicing.

In the actual slicing operation, the slice will pass between the rod l l and the wire I2. The operator in making a slice can vary the thickness by slightly turning the handle thus causing a thinner or thicker piece to pass between the rod and the wire. The pin 26 serves as a visual indicator since the operator can watch the position of the pin with reference to the brick and after practice know about how thick the slice will be from the angular position of the pin with reference to the brick being sliced.

It will be noted that the parts ll, l3|4, l122, and 23 are all automatic screw machine parts and hence are very economical to manufacture. They may, for example, be made of steel, although I contemplate making them of brass and plating the parts. Also the intermediate portion 30 of the turn nut 23 may be knurled, if so desired, to facilitate manual turning of the same in the tightening or loosening of the cutting wire.

I claim as my invention: 7

1. In a Slicer including a rod, a cutting wire along side thereof and spaced therefrom, one end of said wire adapted to be affixed to an end of the rod and a plurality of means for fastening the end portion of said wire in position on said opposite end of'the rod, a slot formed on said last mentioned end of the rod adapted to receive the cutting wire, one of said means comprising a slotted element slidable on said rod to which an end of the wire is fastened, the slotted end of the rod cooperating with the slotted element, and a turn nut adjustably mounted on said rod for moving said slotted element along the rod to loosen and tighten the wire as desired.

2. In a slicer including a rod, a cutting wire along side thereof and spaced therefrom, one end of said wire adapted to be afiixed to an end of the rod, and a plurality of means for fastening the end portion of said wire in position on said opposite end of the rod, a slot formed on said last mentioned end of the rod adapted to receive the cutting wire, one of said means comprising a slotted element adapted to receive the cutting wire slidable on said rod to which an end of the wire is fastened, and a turn nut adjustably mounted on said rod for moving said element along the rod to loosen and tighten the wire as desired, an indicator pin amxed to said slotted element and in alignment with the slot thereof and oppositely positioned to the wire, whereby the slicer is adapted to be positioned for cutting a given thickness of slice indicated by the position of the indicator pin.

3. In a slicer of the type including a taut cutting wire having a fastening portion at each end and carried by and alongside a supporting rod 4 in spaced relation and detachably aflixed thereto, adjustable means for attaching an end portion of the wire to the rod comprising a member slidable on the rod and to which the wire end portion is detachably connectible, said member being recessed to detachably receive said wire end portion, a turn nut adjustably mounted on the rod inwardly of said member for engaging the same to move it outwardly along the rod to tension the wire and movable inwardly in an opposite direction to loosen the wire, and another element affixed to the rod at the other wire end portion and recessed to receive said other wire end portion for the detachable fastening of the same to the rod.

4. In a slicer of the type including a taut cutting wire having attaching means at each end portion and carried by and alongside a supporting rod in spaced relation and detachably affixed thereto, adjustable means for attaching an end portion of the wire to the rod comprising a member slidable on the rod and to which the wire end portion is adapted to be connected, said member being recessed to detachably receive the end portion of the wire, a turn nut threaded on the rod for engaging said member to move it along the rod in one direction to tension the wire and movable in an opposite direction to loosen the wire, and another member affixed to the rod at the other wire end portion, said other member being recessed to detachably receive the other end portion of the wire, and a laterally projecting element attached to said slidable member on a side of the rod opposite from that of the wire for serving as an indicator, whereby the slicer is adapted to be positioned for cutting a given thickness of slice indicated by the position of the indicator element.

. PETER N. NELSON.

-REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Switzerland H May 16, 1927 

